


Cold Turkey

by replikayt



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, Ferdinand underestimates Hubert's vices, Fluff, God they just love each other so much, Kissing, Lots of kissing, M/M, Smoking, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:41:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25695955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/replikayt/pseuds/replikayt
Summary: “Consider this, Hubert. Any time you wish to smoke a cigarette, you should kiss me instead!”Another bout of silence from Hubert. He moved like a machine, lowering his half burnt cigarette and pressing it into the tray on the table, the rest of the paper and tobacco crunching into the ashes.“You severely underestimate how frequently I smoke,” Hubert finally said.
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra
Comments: 23
Kudos: 227





	Cold Turkey

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I wrote a quick ficlet during my lunch break today because sometimes you just have needs that need to be met. And that need was for the boys to kiss. And then it was so. Not much else to say! I hope you all enjoy!

“You know, Hubert,” Ferdinand began, gently setting his porcelain tea cup against its matching saucer. “You’ve been smoking too much recently.” 

Hubert froze in his position, a burning cigarette hanging between fingers, and stared at Ferdinand in mild surprise. The silence stretched between them as a chill breeze passed, Ferdinand’s red locks swaying. He was smiling and did not break eye contact until Hubert did it himself. Hubert closed the distance between his lips and the cigarette, sucking in a long breath.

“And,” Hubert retorted, exhaling. “This is your concern because…?”

“Because it is not good for you!” 

“I see. That does not answer my question, however.” 

Ferdinand sighed, his smile faltering at Hubert’s immediate resistance to the idea.

“Perhaps it is foolish of me to be concerned for the health of my beloved? Or should I not be concerned that you are potentially shortening your lifespan every time you light one?” 

Hubert’s expression twisted into something a little more incredulous and a bit embarrassed at the mention of the word ‘beloved’. 

“There are many things in this world that can kill me. Are you to keep me from those things as well?”

“Ideally, I would like to keep you alive as long as possible, yes.” 

The black-clad man smirked as he took another puff of his cigarette. 

“Then, by that logic, you are better off locking me away in a tower, chained to a bed. After all, I could no longer go outside. Ignoring the armies wishing my head on a spike, there are dangerous plants and animals that can poison or hurt me. Walls and bridges I can fall from, pools of water I can drown in. Ah, but I suppose I could no longer eat or drink, as I may choke-“

“Okay! Okay, I understand. There is no need for you to go on and on about how silly this idea was.”

Ferdinand was pouting now, head turned away in frustration at the mockery that slipped from Hubert’s lips. The signs of gears turning in his head were obvious and his face lit back up, hitting fist against hand as he clearly came to some sort of conclusion. 

“Very well! If you do not wish to quit on your own, then may I offer a trade instead?”

Oh, Flames. What in Adrestia’s name could this simple man have come up with? Hubert squinted his eyes warily, not responding vocally to the suggestion. 

The redhead was not perturbed. 

“Consider this, Hubert. Any time you wish to smoke a cigarette, you should kiss me instead!”

Another bout of silence from Hubert. He moved like a machine, lowering his half-burnt cigarette and pressing it into the tray on the table, the rest of the paper and tobacco crunching into the ashes. 

“You severely underestimate how frequently I smoke,” Hubert finally said, ears burning but eyes steadily staring at the man across the table. 

“You severely underestimate my stubbornness.” 

No, Hubert’s earlier mental comment about Ferdinand being simple was not actually correct normally, but this was…. this was not thought out at all. And frankly? It seemed amusing. 

“Very well. Then any time I wish for a cigarette, I will replace it with you.”

Ferdinand’s blinding smile returned as he nodded, content to hear what he wanted to hear. He was only slightly caught off guard as Hubert bent himself across the table and kissed him, the fresh smoke flavor of the tobacco heavily resting on his mouth. 

—

Ferdinand would never admit it, but Hubert was right. He really wasn’t prepared for just  _ how _ frequently Hubert needed a cigarette. He had seen more of Hubert in the past three days than he felt he had in the last month, being visited every hour or so for a kiss. 

Of course, he was  _ happy _ to see Hubert and to be kissed by Hubert, but it certainly made it much harder for him to focus on work when the large man slinked into his office so frequently. Perhaps it would be better to find them a room they could share until this was over. 

More pressingly, it was concerning just how much Hubert seemed to have been smoking. He knew it was a lot, but… no, this really was quite beyond his expectations. Certainly, what he was doing was the correct choice, even if it did mean he was getting more than slightly backed up with his work. Could you blame him? Hubert was kissing him so much and he couldn’t help but stare at the grand clock across his office, waiting for when Hubert would come back again. 

This time, more than four hours passed before he saw Hubert again. Ferdinand couldn’t help but have his faith shaken, thinking Hubert had already broken their arrangement to indulge himself in a cigarette. 

A brusque knock was heard against his door and before he could even respond, Hubert was already marching over to him. Hubert gripped Ferdinand’s neckpiece to pull him forward into a kiss, but the sheer amount of force behind the kiss pressed him backwards, Hubert’s free hand tangling itself in the wavy red hair. 

The kiss lasted more than a few moments and Ferdinand could taste the frustration and coffee on his tongue, but nothing else. Ferdinand felt his heart speed up in excitement over this discovery. 

When Hubert finally pulled back, he seemed to be calmer and more relaxed than he had been when he barged in.

”You didn’t-”

”We made a deal. Then I will be off.” 

And just like that, Hubert left the office again. 

Ferdinand bent over his desk, face buried into his hands as he felt his entire face burning. Well… not just his face. 

—

The next morning, Ferdinand made his way towards the war room of Garreg Mach, an early meeting being called by Edelgard to discuss the plan for an upcoming battle against the Faerghus resistance. As he turned the corner of the hall, he felt himself being yanked into another room and immediately pinned to the wall. He reached for his sword, but quickly stayed his hand upon seeing Hubert before him.

“You frightened me,” Ferdinand said, trying to calm himself back down. “You could have called out to me normally, you know.”

He received a grunt in return. He looked Hubert over and it was clear the man hadn’t gone to bed yet. The bitter scents of coffee and a day without a bath were practically leaping off of him. He seemed irritated and Ferdinand understood that going without cigarettes was a partial cause to this. Ferdinand reached up, gently pressing a hand against Hubert’s cheek. 

“Good morning,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss the exhausted man. Hubert returned it and it was surprisingly gentle, especially compared to the kiss from the evening before. 

Hubert visibly relaxed again and gave a small smile, reaching in to hold Ferdinand’s face between both of his hands, kissing him again as if he was starving. Hubert could be surprisingly tender, Ferdinand thought sometimes. Hubert worked so hard to make himself as intimidating and cold as possible, but when it was just the two of them, Ferdinand got to witness this softer side. 

“Good morning, Ferdinand.” 

“You did not sleep last night.”

“Yes. There was much to prepare for today. We have…  _ guests _ coming, so…” He said ‘guests’ as if he were talking about mice in a kitchen. 

“That sounds like something I could have assisted with. Actually, that sounds like something much more in my line of work. Why did you not inform me?”

Hubert hesitated and sighed.

“You have your own tasks and this was last minute. It didn’t seem fair to put this on you.”

“Many hands make light work. If we worked together, we could have completed the tasks faster. Who are these guests visiting?” 

“It will be explained in the meeting. For now, may I have one more kiss before we begin?”

Ferdinand smiled and complied, leaning up again.

“Thank you for asking this time.”

—

The meeting was long and tedious. Hubert was becoming impatient. It had been four days since his last cigarette and he was more on edge than he would have liked. Ferdinand was agreeable and seemed content with the arrangement they made, despite the fact he would become flustered and unfocused after every time Hubert visited. 

And, he had to admit, sometimes he used the excuse of wanting to smoke just to see Ferdinand again. It was almost like free permission to kiss him whenever he liked. Who was he to refuse such a gracious invitation? Ferdinand would become so happy any time he did not taste smoke on his breath and he always seemed pleased to see Hubert come through the door. 

It was… addicting, in its own way. Being able to flaunt his affection for the man. Of course, he would never do so in front of others as to protect both of their reputations. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to let himself indulge at least a little.

Which is why, in this moment, frustration and aggravation were pounding at the back of his mind. Those  _ guests _ he had mentioned to Ferdinand, were emissaries and defected noblemen from the Alliance, wanting to join the ranks of Lady Edelgard’s army. Their arrival was announced last minute and, getting ahead of themselves, they decided to crash their morning war meeting.

Naturally, this meant they could not actually discuss any matters at hand and the  _ guests  _ decided to take this opportunity to talk about themselves and what they wished for out of this. They should have been grateful they were allowed inside Garreg Mach at all with their absolutely disrespectful behavior. 

But Lady Edelgard was more patient than he and he allowed them to continue only due to her silent approval. 

As if this wasn’t enough, one of them had the sheer  _ gall _ to sit next to Ferdinand, who, although a bit unnerved at the closeness to which the nobleman sat, was polite and friendly during discussions. The leader of their group, Lord…. whatever, droned on and on and small, quiet conversations began to break out. 

The meeting had already gone on for an hour over what it was meant to and Hubert wanted a cigarette to try and calm his fraying nerves. And now, wanting a cigarette meant…

His eyes met Ferdinand’s, twinkling with understanding and unsaid apologies. Hubert huffed, crossing his arms at the table. Ferdinand stood up abruptly at the first instance of a lull. 

“Yes, thank you so much Lord Akerley, for that extremely informative... discussion! I would actually love to talk more about this one on one. After all, it is my duty to hear out any fine ideas that people may have.” 

Huh?

Damn it, Ferdinand, don’t keep yourself busy with this man. Couldn’t you tell Hubert needed you more than this dull, stuffy old man? 

Ferdinand turned his eyes to Hubert again and raised the back of his own hand to his lips, almost seeming as if he were trying to politely hold back a yawn. But Hubert understood the true meaning of the gesture, it was a kiss. For him. 

Damn it, Ferdinand. How could he be mad when you did something so cute? 

“Excuse me. For now,” Ferdinand continued, lowering said hand back to the table. “Let us call this meeting adjourned. Caspar, could you show our guests around the campus?”

Everyone turned to Caspar and looked between him and the assorted nobleman seated at the table. Edelgard put her hand up to her mouth, stifling a small laugh. 

“Yes,” she agreed. “Thank you all for clearing your busy schedules for this meeting. Caspar, please guide them around.”

“Sure! I know the school like the back of my hand. You guys are in for a treat!” he exclaimed, voice echoing throughout the room. 

“Ah, but-” Akerley began, seeming a bit I pleased at the sudden changes happening around him. “I was hoping to speak to her-”

“No need,” Ferdinand said. “I am more than capable of listening to your concerns and ideas, Lord Akerley! Let us meet in my office later this afternoon, yes?” 

“...right. Very well. I will see you then.” 

The group finally broke up and went their own way, various members of the Strike Force gratefully patting Ferdinand’s arm for ending their misery. The guests followed after Caspar, who was already rambling about his time at the academy.

Seeing Hubert had stayed behind, Ferdinand fell back into a chair roughly, letting out a rough breath of air. 

“And here I thought you spoke a lot,” Hubert teased, closing the door to the meeting room and walking towards his lover. 

“How obnoxious,” Ferdinand admitted. “Is that really what I sound like?”

“You look better, at least.”

“To barge in uninvited, these men have no sense of etiquette or manners. I am surprised they were even allowed in here.” 

“Lady Edelgard wished to gain insight, I’m guessing.”

Ferdinand sighed again and turned his head up to look at Hubert.

“You were getting quite frustrated, Hubert. Was your craving that intense?”

Hubert paused, looking over the man sprawled out with no elegance in the chair. His hair spilled over the back, beautiful features forming yet another smile. How was it Ferdinand could always muster up a smile? Hubert felt exhausted after three on any given day. 

He stepped closer and Ferdinand gently grabbed his hand, bringing gloved fingers to his lips. 

“Do you need a cigarette? You were so patient during the meeting. Perhaps I should reward you, just this once,” Ferdinand said, voice quiet. 

“I suppose I would like that.”

Hubert bent over, raising Ferdinand’s chin with his hand, and closed the distance between them. He shut his eyes during the peaceful moment and all the anger and frustration that built during the meeting quickly dissipated into the kiss. It was chaste but sweet, just what was needed. 

“But... I also suppose that were I given the choice, I would choose this every time.”

“Then let me allow you to make that choice again, Hubert.”


End file.
